Pancake and Soups!

Scallion Pancakes

This recipe is one of the things my father got out of living for several years in a tiny backwoods village in Shandong Province during the Cultural Revolution.

Scallion cakes are simple in recipe, but hard to describe.  The key thing is the dough, which is simply flour and water in roughly a 2:1 proportion.  Though I never measure, I just start kneading and add more flour or water as required.  The best dough is hard–the longer your knead, the better the pancakes will turn out, so I recommend keeping going long after your forearms have gone numb.  If you want, you can put an egg or two in the dough as well for better color.

Roll out the pancake into a roughly round, flat shape, while making sure it stays non-sticky and flour coated.  Don’t worry about making it too thin at this point, it’s this step that gives it the many layers.  Lightly coat the surface with a fragrant oil, like peanut (or sometimes we use olive oil).  DO NOT PUT TOO MUCH OIL.  Best way to do this is just to put a few drops of oil in the middle, and then lightly bring the edges of the pancake to touch the center to spread the oil around.  Lightly salt the surface and add a few finely chopped scallions. 

Now, carefully roll up the pancake into a long thin tube.  Then curl the tube in on itself, sort of like a cinnabun–you’ll have coiled spring-type-shape made of the tube.  At this point, if you’ve added too much oil to the middle, it will dribble out the ends.  Flatten the roughly round shape you have now with your hand, and then flatten into a round pancake shape with your rolling pin.

Generously oil a flat frying pan, then put over medium heat.  Put the pancake on–cooking times vary from pan to pan and stove to stove, anywhere from just 2-3 minutes to 5-6 minutes.  Watch for the edge of the pancake to turn a light golden brown before flipping.

Simple, right?  This recipe is not complicated, but takes some practice to get right.

Cold Sesame Noodles

This is another fairly simple recipe.  Simply cook some long asian-style spaghetti noodles (sans egg) and then run under cold water.  The sauce is equally simple–the key ingredient is something called “ma jiang” 麻酱 (with an upwards, then a falling intonation) sesame paste.  Now, this usually comes as a thick paste, so mix in with water to make it the desired consistency.  Add some salt for a stronger flavor, and then mix with the noodles.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and finely chopped cilantro.

Alternately, use buckwheat noodles (ala Japanese soba) instead of wheat noodles.

Wintermelon/Daikon Soup

The absolute key to making Asian-style vegetable soup with things like daikon or winter melon is slow cooking.  What my father typically does is put it in the slow cooker overnight.  If you don’t have a slow cooker, bring the soup to a boil and then back down to a very slow simmer for at least 3 hours.  Your home will completely fill up with the smell of it.

Daikon/Wintermelon soup can be very simple.  Throw in some old bones (pork works best) for flavor, and simply add some salt and soy sauce.  Experiment with the various spices to add, all will work–some options include star anise, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, ginseng root, etc.  Don’t overspice at the beginning, the true flavor doesn’t begin to come out until 2 hours in.  You can always add more later, but the real danger is ending up with an overly salty or heavily flavored soup because you added to much at the beginning.